revivalsteph@yahoo.com on mon 27 aug 12
because i was talking about the history of Mayolica , i didn't begin to
cover the long rich tradition of native potters who had been making pots =
=3D
and
clay figures in the western hemisphere and what is now Mexico, long befo=
=3D
re
the European conquest....just wanted to mention that....theirs is a rich
tradition in itself of course.
Stephani Stephenson
revivalsteph@yahoo.com on mon 27 aug 12
=3D46rom the book "Ceramica y Cultura: the story of Spanish and Mexican
Mayolica", chapter 14 'the Loza Blanca tradition of Aguascalientes'.
This gives you an idea of what 'marketing' pots was like in the 1800s !
note: Aguascalientes is in North Central Mexico in the Bajio region. pott=
=3D
ery
was not produced there until the early 1800s. From the mid 1800s through =
=3D
the
1920s, loza blanca pots and tiles were in demand in northern Mexican citi=
=3D
es
. In the 1880s there were thought to be about 15 alfares(potters) making=
=3D
loza blanca, ( tin glazed soft paste earthenware, also called talavera) a=
=3D
nd
100 producing loza colorado (unglazed or lead glazed earthenware), with=
=3D
an
abundant associated workforce. Clients at that time included vendors in
cities of Durango, Torreon, Parral, Chihuahua and Juarez.
here's the excerpt:
"During the wet summer months, when it was difficult to fire the pottery,=
=3D
..the kilns were generally inactive. The alfar owners would set out in wa=
=3D
gon
trains of 80 -100 two and four-wheeled carts to haul both types of loza
northward, traveling together for protection against bandits and maraudin=
=3D
g
Indians and for mutual assistance. The wagons were described as "rolling
crates" with alternate layers of of straw and pots laced together.
Delivering orders to customers in the various towns and villages and taki=
=3D
ng
new orders from merchants, the owners would remain together until the fir=
=3D
st
had sold his wares. He would then return home, leaving the others to fin=
=3D
ish
selling, and as each did, he too would return.
... the trip took about four months. The silver coins they received in
payment were melted down into lumps and hidden in the wagons, to be
resmelted and recoined at a mint in Zacatecas, for a fee, after their ret=
=3D
urn. "
when the railroad came to central Mexico in 1882 it actually hurt busine=
=3D
ss
because the Mexican market was flooded with finer grade imports from
England and France. It remained in decline until the 1920s when American=
=3D
s
developed a taste for Mexican Pottery.The Pottery workshops in
Aguascalientes exported tile and pots , especially pitchers and dish sets=
=3D
directly to the United States. the pottery business started declining ag=
=3D
ain
after WWII .=3D20
"World War II made materials hard to obtain, and it grew harder to mainta=
=3D
in
a foothold in a market made intensely competitive by the appearance of le=
=3D
ss
expensive, machine produced, high fired chinaware, both Mexican and
imported, and then, of still cheaper plastic kitchenware. the robust
aesthetic and quality of Loza blanca also declined in quality in the 1960=
=3D
s
and 70s. the last functioning alfar closed upon the death of Maestro Juan=
=3D
Silva Gonzalez , of El Caballo Blanco, in 1999.=3D20=3D20
Silva was a third generation potter there, his grandfather , a skilled
tornero, helped start the loza blanca pottery tradition in Aguascalientes=
=3D
in
the 1830s. Silva's father Ruperto (1839-1925) was also a master tornero =
=3D
there.
a curious sidenote: It seems the main reason the tradition of Loza blanc=
=3D
a
came to the region had to do with politics. During the colonial period o=
=3D
f
'New Spain', pottery was one of the restricted crafts and its practice wa=
=3D
s
restricted to Spanish born people only, and was forbidden to those who we=
=3D
re
Creole (children of Spanish parents born in Mexico), and mestizos(people =
=3D
of
mixed blood, primarily Spanish and Indian). the priest Miguel Hidalgo y
Costilla, a creole himself, was banished to the town of Dolores, for his=
=3D
promoting of the ideals expressed in the French revolution. it is general=
=3D
ly
agreed that due to his influence and encouragement, new potters in the Ba=
=3D
io
region developed this style of pottery shapes, decorative patterns and
mayolica glazing ,distinct from the style being done in Puebla.
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